Munich Re, the world's leading reinsurance company, is tackling problems for their primary insurance clients and distribution partners with innovative and forward-looking digital solutions.
As new technologies disrupt the insurance value chain, how exactly does Munich Re stay at the forefront of change?
On September 29th, 2021, a few of their technology leaders joined us online to share an inside look at their company culture, transformational projects, and how they're investing in their IT and Tech specialists.
The event kicked off with a welcome address from Chris Hawman, SVP and Global Head of IT, Life and Health. Chris shared why he chose to join Munich Re after spending 25 years in various financial institutions, as well as why diversity is so important to the company.
"Munich Re does feel different than the other financial firms that I've worked for in my career" he shared. "Munich is our home office, but we operate dozens of businesses that are diverse in different parts of the insurance business, serving different clients and different markets around the world. So diversity is really baked into how we operate and how we need to compete in each and every market."
Chris also touched on how Munich Re fosters an inclusive culture and supports their team members with ample career development opportunities, a flexible work environment, and a focus on work/life balance.
Next, we moved into a Tech Talk with Yamila Harris, Global Head of Support, IT Service Delivery. She discussed how Munich Re has made a significant investment in "transformation initiatives" in response to the growing hybrid nature of the workplace—from self-service tools and tech bars to smart meeting rooms.
"We're looking at really thoughtful and innovative ways to improve the services that we're delivering for our colleagues while ensuring that we're setting the right foundation well into the future."
Moving into our panel discussion, we heard from Stephanie Copp, Global Head of IT Security Consulting & Testing, Karveen Baines, Global Head of Transformation and Supporting Services, and Phil Roeper, SVP & CIO Munich Re America Services—alongside Yamila Harris. The panel offered a behind-the-scenes look at their upcoming projects, career development opportunities, diversity initiatives, and the future of the company.
When asked about her favorite project, Stephanie shared her excitement around penetration testing, a specialty field within information security that tests and verifies the security of systems and applications by attacking them with the very same techniques and tools that attackers use.
Karveen discussed Munich Re's regular development conversations and how "the annual review encourages a one and done type development conversation, so [Munich Re] made active arrangements to move away from it and encourage continuous conversations… This enables [them] to really keep in touch with [their] people on how they're doing in real time."
Next up, Phil talked about how Munich Re is scaling across IT risk, cyber security, automation, and more, as well as the excitement of working for a global company.
"If you haven't had a chance to work in an international environment before, I must admit, I would recommend it."
We then circled back to Yamila who touched on how she's seen diversity and inclusion at play across her team. She wrapped up by saying, "this is a company where I feel like I can bring my whole self to work."
After a live audience Q&A, we broke into small breakout sessions with additional technologists and Talent Acquisition team members to learn about Munich Re's hiring process and answer more audience questions.
Interested in joining the team? Munich Re is hiring! You can view all of their open roles and learn more about the company on their PowerToFly page.
